| Most recent season or competition: 2023 AsiaBasket Dasmariñas Championship | |
 | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021 |
| Founder | Jai Reyes |
| Inaugural season | 2021 Subic Championship |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | Philippines Indonesia Malaysia Brunei Thailand United States (all-time) |
| Continent | FIBA Asia |
| Most recent champion(s) | CSB Blazers (Dasmariñas 2023) |
| Most titles | six teams (1 title each) |
| TV partner(s) | AsiaBasket (Facebook, YouTube) Solar Sports |
| Official website | asiabasket |
AsiaBasket is an Asian men's professional basketball league founded in 2021.
It was originally founded as the Filipino Basketball League, more commonly referred to as FilBasket, a domestic basketball tournament in the Philippines. Its first tournament was the 2021 Subic Championship followed by the 2022 Summer Championship.
In October 2022, FilBasket expanded into the Southeast Asian market with 2022 International Championship taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. To further reflect this expansion, the league was renamed as AsiaBasket beginning with the 2023 International Championship also held in Malaysia.
Six teams have won the championship once, with the most recent champions being the CSB Blazers, who won the 2023 Dasmariñas Championship.
History
FilBasket era (2021–2022)
The Filipino Basketball League (FilBasket) was established by former UAAP player Jai Reyes and Buddy Encarnado of the Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors in 2021.[1][2] It was founded as a means to provide a platform for basketball players whose careers were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic community quarantine measures. This includes players of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) which saw its 2019–20 season delayed due to COVID-19 measures. Hence many teams from the MPBL have joined the FilBasket, while not leaving the former, in a bid to play more competitive games.[2]
The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) of the Philippine government contends that FilBasket is a professional league and not an amateur league as the league organizers believe, hence the league falls under its jurisdiction.[3] The FilBasket organizers admitted that the long-term plan is for the league to become a professional league although it maintains that it will be an amateur league initially.[4] The dispute was reportedly resolved in October 2021, with FilBasket pushing through with its first tournament, the 2021 FilBasket Subic Championship.[3] Filbasket secured approval from Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and the IATF-EID for a bubble tournament at the Subic Bay Gymnasium, in accordance to regulations for amateur leagues.[5]
The Subic Championship's format is akin to other major sports leagues in the Philippines, a round-robin stage followed by a single-elimination playoffs. The tournament concluded with AICC Manila being the winners. However the GAB issued a cease and desist order insisting that FilBasket is a professional league and declared the Subic Championship as unlawful although it did not impose any further sanctions.[6][7]
FilBasket started the process of turning into a professional league recognized by the GAB on February 22, 2022.[8] By March 1, 2022, the league was granted professional status by the GAB.[9] The league would hold its first professional tournament, the 2022 FilBasket Summer Championship, in early 2022.[10]
FilBasket would also hold its first international tournament, the 2022 International Championship in the latter part of 2022 in Malaysia.[11] It is also the first tournament under the current format, where instead of a round-robin, teams compete in a group stage to get in the knockout round.
AsiaBasket era (2023–present)
On March 3, 2023, FilBasket announced their renaming to AsiaBasket to accommodate with the expansion into the Asian basketball market. The first tournament under the AsiaBasket name was the 2023 International Championship, which also took place in Malaysia in April 2023. Although the league stated that the FilBasket name would be retained for local competitions in the Philippines, the AsiaBasket name was still used for the 2023 Las Piñas Championship in July 2023, which featured an all-Filipino roster of teams competing in Las Piñas.[12]
The 2023 Dasmariñas Championship will take place in Dasmariñas, Cavite, Philippines in November 2023, and will feature United States-based Statham Academy led by Filipino-American Taylor Statham, marking the first time the league will feature a team based outside of Asia.
Teams
Current teams
Teams competing at the 2023 AsiaBasket Dasmariñas Championship:
| Name | Locality | Country | First tournament |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSB Blazers | Malate, Manila |  Philippines |
International 2023 |
| Corsa Tires | — | Las Piñas 2023 | |
| Dasmariñas Monarchs | Dasmariñas, Cavite | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| Makati Circus Music Festival | Makati | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| MisOr Mustangs | Misamis Oriental | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| PCU Dolphins – Dasmariñas | Dasmariñas, Cavite | Dasmariñas 2023 | |
| Pilipinas Aguilas | — | International 2022 | |
| Shawarma Shack Pilipinas | — | International 2022 | |
| Phuket Waves | Phuket |  Thailand |
Dasmariñas 2023 |
| Statham Academy | California |  United States |
Dasmariñas 2023 |
Previous teams
FilBasket teams
Arenas
| Tournament | Arena(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|
| FilBasket | ||
| Subic 2021 | Subic Bay Gymnasium | Olongapo, Zambales |
| Summer 2022 | San Jose Del Monte City Sports Complex Muntinlupa Sports Center SGS Stadium |
San Jose del Monte, Bulacan Muntinlupa Quezon City |
| International 2022 | MABA Stadium | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| AsiaBasket | ||
| International 2023 | MABA Stadium | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Las Piñas 2023 | Villar Coliseum | Las Piñas |
| Dasmariñas 2023 | Dasmariñas Arena | Dasmariñas, Cavite |
Champions
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of times that team has appeared in each tournament's championship game, as well as each respective teams' record in those games.
| Tournament | Winning team | Score | Losing team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FilBasket | ||||
| Subic 2021 | AICC Manila (1, 1–0) | 2–1 (series) | San Juan Knights (1, 0–1) | |
| Summer 2022 | Nueva Ecija Capitals (1, 1–0) | 2–1 (series) | San Juan Knights (2, 0–2) | |
| International 2022 | Harimau Malaysia (1, 1–0) | 87–68 | KL Aseel (1, 0–1) | |
| AsiaBasket | ||||
| International 2023 | KL Aseel (2, 1–1) | 83–72 | San Beda Red Lions (1, 0–1) | |
| Las Piñas 2023 | Ateneo Blue Eagles (1, 1–0) | 60–57 | CSB Blazers (1, 0–1) | |
| Dasmariñas 2023 | CSB Blazers (2, 1–1) | 105–86 | Statham Academy (1, 0–1) | |
See also
References
- ↑ Joble, Rey (October 29, 2021). "Why FilBasket insists it is an amateur league". Manila Times. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- 1 2 Joble, Rey (August 11, 2021). "Sta. Lucia joins FilBasket League". The Manila Times. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- 1 2 Mendoza, Martin (October 25, 2021). "Filbasket clears up GAB issue, to push through with inaugural tournament". Rappler. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ↑ Rosale, Dale (October 27, 2021). "FilBasket kicks off Thursday". Cebu Daily News. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ↑ Reyes, Kate (July 22, 2021). "Jai Reyes to formally open FilBasket this August". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ↑ Navarro, June (November 23, 2021). "GAB issues cease and desist order vs Filbasket". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ↑ Ramos, Gerry (January 14, 2022). "GAB fires warning after Filbasket's maiden tournament ruled 'unlawful'". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ↑ Li, Matthew (February 22, 2022). "Filbasket, Super League begin process of turning pro". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
- ↑ "Pro status, new teams boost Filbasket ahead of second season". ABS-CBN News. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ↑ Li, Matthew (May 8, 2022). "Filbasket: Palma lifts Nueva Ecija to Summer Championship". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ↑ Terrado, Reuben (October 23, 2022). "Three Pinoy teams to play in FilBasket Int'l Championship in KL". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ↑ Morales, Luisa (March 10, 2023). "Filbasket expands, rebrands into AsiaBasket". The Philippine Star. Retrieved March 11, 2023.